Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hunting Noir And The End Of An Era

While word and a few images have already spread from Daiki Suzuki's penultimate collection for Woolrich Woolen Mills the complete F/W 2010 collection was finally unvielded in London recently and it is incredible. With the theme of "hunting noir" running through all the garments the collection is Daiki's strongest and most adventurous to date - this really shouldn't surprise anyone considering it is the period on half of his WWM legacy. I would have never thought that such an arguably forward and chic (words not seen often on this blog) collection would impress me so much, but I guess that speaks to Daiki's talents as both a designer and visionary.

F/W 2010 is robust and deep, while extremely dark and brooding thanks to the heavy use of midnight blue, black and unwashed fabrics. It's probably the best instance of refined ruggedness that I have ever seen presented - talk about a difficult quality to actually execute. Everything we have come to expect from Daiki (original prints, plaids, familiar garment styles), and what has turned casual observers to superfans over the years, is completely in tact, yet he is pushing the boundaries and expectations of both an industry and its consumers.

So where does Woolrich Woolen Mills go from here as Daiki's era comes to an end? While no official word has been announced it appears that by the end of Piti Uomo you will be informed of the exciting plans WWM has for the post-Daiki era.

It's a great collection but you don't need me or anyone to tell you that, you can see it plain as day. It'll be interesting to see where this goes next year, when there's someone else steering the ship.

@ Anon: McNairy? McNairy is far from the aesthetic that Woolrich is trying to achieve. In case you hadn't heard, McNairy left JPress, otherwise known as "That Ivy Show - I mean Store", not LL Bean or Filson. Plus, I'm sure that McNairy would like to continue his work on his own label.

@ the enthusiast, ok, lets wait and see... although think about it, already McNairy and EG have collabs, i think Daiki has respect for what McNairy does and whilst WWM is owned by other people, you would expect a reference from him might go a long way... only saying... by the way I had heard about McNairy and J Press. Daiki did some great work with EG whilst doing WWM and both lines flourished, I would suggest that EG did better with WWM's promoting Daiki's talents with their marketing and promotions budget which I would guess is well in excess of EG's, so perhaps not such a dumb move on McNairy's part should he get the chance.

@ Anon: Not sure where you're getting surf from this collection. Ocean fisherman, yes. 50s surfer bro? Meh. Not so much. I will give you that it's a possibility that McNairy works for WWM, but I don't see it happening.